The Time It Takes To Fall
by twistedcandycane
Summary: A sticky hostage situation hits close to home for the entire team. Rated T.
1. Insomnia

**The Time it Takes to Fall.  
By: Twistedcandycane.**

**Hey guys! This is my first time ever writing for this tv show, but I have watched all the episodes and I do have my facts straight (I hope).**

**I don't know how this will play out, but hey, trying never hurts, right?**

**Warning: May or may not contain spoilers. If so, I will warn you at the beginning of the chapter.  
And also, it might take me awhile between chapters to update.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Flashpoint, nor do I own the characters. **

**_Prologue._**

The hot water of the shower cascaded down Jules Callaghan's back, welcoming her to release her stress. Sadly, that was easier said then done. It was a difficult day. A very difficult day.

The scenes of the day played out in Jules' mind like a terrifying nightmare, or a sick thriller movie. She remembered Spike's face after the second and finale shot was fired. He was as white as a sheet, and he looked absolutely devastated. No other way to describe it.

Trying to scrub away the painful memories, Jules began to scrub her hair harder and harder. It wasn't working. After realizing that it was only creating pain, she softened up her grip and rinsed her hair of the conditioner and rid her body of the soap.

After completing her nightly routine to cool down, Jules lay in bed, wide eyed, and unable to fall asleep.

Sleep. How lovely that would be. To just let the day drift away, and to slip into a quite and peaceful slumber. Unfortanetly, she didn't think it would be that peaceful. Most definitley not.

Sitting up in bed, Jules looked around her bedroom. The moon lit up the opposite wall of her window, showing the shadows of the window itself and the tree outside. That never bothered her. Sighing, Jules gave up on sleep. Putting on her slippers, she walked down to her kitchen, turned on the light and made her way over to the kettle to heat it up.

Jules stopped dead in her tracks. She turned around and looked at her front door, then looked at the wooden table beside it. She power walked to the door, slipped off her slippers, got her keys and made her way to the front door. Just as she left her house she looked at her reflection; Grey tank top, black sweats and tassled hair. It was good enough for her.

She locked the door, ran to her vehicle and got in. After checking to make sure everything was in order, she drove down the street. The silence was bugging her so she turned on her radio to the smooth tunes of jazz.

After stopping at the four-way, she turned left and made her way to her destination.

There was somewhere she wanted to be, and it sure as hell wasn't here.

**So...what do you think?**

**Should I continue, or quit while I'm ahead? **

**If I get say, anywhere from 3-5 reviews saying to continue...I will. **

**And tell me, what do you think happened? Where was Jules going? **


	2. Feeling Empty

**The Time it Takes to Fall.  
Feeling Empty.**

**Thank you all for the great reviews! It really made me smile, and made me happy. :D ****This isn't going to be a Jules/Sam or Jules centric story. But...I pinky promise with a double lock that there will be some sprinkled in there. You just have to review and be patient. Muuahah!  
;). Oh! And this story takes place somewhere is Season three...after (Spoiler in the next few words) Ed's wife and son go to stay with Sophie's mother. **

**Riminii: I don't usually respond to reviews, but I just wanted to say that I do write for myself, but it is nice to write for reviews, because if people were just writing for themselves, they wouldn't publish their stories on the internet...and I am an adolescent. But I do appreciate your comment. And I am glad you're interested. :)**

**Disclaimer: Even though I am Canadian...I do not own Flashpoint or any of the characters. **

12 Hours Earlier...

_Beep. Beep. Beep. _

The rough, annoying sounds of the alarm clock woke Ed Lane from his somewhat peaceful sleep. He turned over on to his left side to check the time.

11:30AM.

"Damnit." Ed cursed harshly under his breath. He had to be at Headquarters at 12:30. Just five more minutes. He turned back over onto his right side and glanced at that side of the bed. The red bed spread on Sophie's side was perfectly in tact.

Ed remembered when they were first moving into the house, six years ago, and Sophie wanted to get new bedding. New house, new bedding, why not? Well, at least that was her thinking. He remembered when Sophie asked him what colour he wanted for the bedding.

_"It doesn't matter, hunny, I really gotta go." Ed said as he began to rush out the door. He felt an arm on his left shoulder._

_"Ed, it will take 30 seconds to answer. What colour?" Sophie asked as she reasoned with him._

_If it would only take thirty seconds to answer, why did she need an answer now? Instead of asking and wasting more time, answered._

_"Look, it doesn't matter, it could be pink for all I care, look, Soph, I don't mean to be harsh, but I REALLY got to go." Ed said as he kissed his beloved wife on the cheek in a rush to leave. "We can talk about it tonight."_

_After leaving an absolutely pissed off and saddened Sophie at the front door, he got into Wordy's car ( Ed didn't have a car of his own at that point), and talked about the whole conversation, complaining about it and asking why women needed to know something at that moment._

Before delving deeper into the memory, Ed got up out of bed and began to get ready quickly, since he had to be at work for 12:30, and it was already 11:42.

Using some colourful language while he grabbed some cloths off the floor, he rushed into the shower. As he was putting a towel on the floor so it wouldn't get slippery, he caught a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror. Tired and haggered was one way to say it. He had deep dark circles under his eyes, and pale skin. Owell. This is life. Stuff happens.

Drying his bald head, Ed glanced at the clock. 11:53AM it read.

"Glad I don't have hair." Ed laughed at his lame attempt at a joke. Clark would've rolled his eyes and Sophie would have chuckled light heartedly.

Ed shook his head. Life without Clark's coaching in the humor department and Sophie standing up for him was really beginning to affect his sanity. Especially if hes making lame jokes to himself. Out loud. While he's alone.

The sun reflected off the glass building that was home to the SRU harshly, making Ed thankful that he had remembered to bring is sunglasses. It was a beautiful day. The sun was high in the sky, the grass was green, the air was warm, and there was a light breeze. His kind of weather.

As Ed walked through the hallways of the building to get to the men's changing room, he was greeted by Robert of Team Two. Hardly paying attention to whatever Robert was saying, Ed smiled politely, tried to feign interest in whatever he was talking about and went to get changed into his uniform.

Walking into the room where Team One always planned their day and later debreifed, Ed greeted his team mates.

Greg then walked in the room with a file under his left arm, and a coffee in the right hand. "Good morning, Team One. Hope you all had a good nights rest, because we have an exciting day ahead of us!" Greg said with sarcasim dripping from each and every word. "Workout, then Patrol for a little bit. Sounds like fun, eh?"

"Yayyy." Spike droned sarcasiticly. The rest of the team agreed by either mumbling sarcasticly, or just simply rolling their eyes and shrugging their shoulders.

"Anyways," Greg began loudly, ignoring everybody's somewhat rude comments; afterall, they were there to protect the city, weren't they?

"Shall the need arise, I will act as negotiater, Jules will be my second, and everybody will assume the same positions as the last shift. Alright?"

Everybody nodded in agreement and made their way to the change rooms to get into their workout gear.

Ed was just about to turn the corner when he heard two voices bouncing off the walls. One male, and one female. As Ed listened carefully, he was immediately able to identify the voices; Sam and Jules.

"But can't we just talk about it?" Sam begged Jules, picking up where him and Jules left off on the subject at hand.

"No Sam. We can't." Jules said, attempting to close the matter of discussion.

"Why?" Sam begged desperatley.

"Because," Jules began, but decided to choose her next words carefully. "Because Sam, it was just a kiss."

Ed's interest was suddenly sparked. He was never the one to eavesdrop, except when Clark was getting into heated discussions on the phone, or something was obviously bothering Sophie. Other than that, he never eavesdropped

"A kiss isn't just a kiss." Sam said. Ed had to agree with him.

"Look, can we not talk about it now? Maybe later. But right now, we're at work Sam."

There was a moment of silence. Sam was probably contemplating what Jules had to say. Everyone knew Sam could be stubborn/

"Fine. We'll talk later." Sam said begrudgingly. Jules knew this conversation was not even close to being over. Now she had just enough time to figure out what she was going to say.

Ed always liked the thought of Sam and Jules together. Before Jules got shot, they were obvisouly together, and they didn't let their relationship get in the way of their jobs. If it were up to Ed, he would let them be together. He knew what it was like to be young and inlove. It was hard, but it was also the best thing in the world. Like flying high 24/7, and not knowing when you are going to crash, but just being happy where you are at that precise moment. However, love doesn't always have a happy ending. Ed know's that as well as anybody.

Before Ed could go deeper into his thoughts, and Sam and Jules could finish their conversation, Winnie's voice came over the intercome to announce the team's event for the day.

"Team One, hot call, suite up. Shots fired at City Hall. Subject holding a gun to a women's head. Witnesses say two people have been shot."

Everybody rushed to the vehicle's, made sure they had all of the necessary equitment, and made their way to City Hall.

**So, what did you guys think? I don't think it is the best thing I have written, but I think its an alright way to start off a story. I wanted to show that even though Ed might have taken advantage of Sophie in the past, and didn't spend too much time with the family, that he ultimitley loves his family. I also wanted to show that he could relate to Sam and Jules in someway. Hope I did :).**

**Review...Maybe 4-6 reviews for the next chapter? :) And Tell me what you think will happen next?**


	3. Imagine

**The Time it Takes to Fall.  
**Imagine.

**Hey Guys! Sorry for the long wait...but the wait for the next chapter is probably going to be long too...:(  
Anyways, heads up guys, this isn't the best chapter I have to offer...Sorry :(.  
The last few months have been crazy. Between homework and a service trip outside of the country, I have only found time to write snipets. I hope you guys like this.  
Please review. The reviews keep me going, even if I don't update ASAP. I'd love to know of what you guys think of how I'm setting up the characters.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Flashpoint. **

****The sun reflected off of the two curved buildings of City Hall, blinding almost anyone who looked at them. The crowd was panicked, being cautioned to stay behind the perimeter of the police tape. Everyone in the crowd was mesmerized by the fact that there was a hostage situation taking place before their very eyes, exciting everyone. News reporters and camera men were canvasing the area for the best angle's possible, and reporting what they knew about the case thus far.

This part always sickened Wordy. Everybody was excited that they now had a story to go home and tell their husband's and wives, sons and daughters. Nobody really understood that this was serious. Oh sure, everybody knew it was serious, but once you're caught up in the hussle and bussle of watching the SRU trying to resolve the situation peacefully, you forget that the subject and hostage involved are people too. They have lives that happened before, and hopefully will happen after this mess.

"That's disgusting," Wordy muttered to himself.

"What's disgusting?" Jules asked as she joined Wordy, watching the crowd, and waiting for the Sarge's plan.

"The people, just watching this unfold like this is some sort of cop show. Look, even one of them has a kid with her!" Wordy said as he pointed to an attractive, young blonde mother, holding her son by the shoulder's and craning her neck to see more. "I would _not _let my girls watch this."

"I know. Television has convinced people to think that this is going to be their daily drama dose for the day, and that it is somehow going to have a happy ending-which hopefully, it will." Jules said, agreeing with Wordy. Jules always wished that these types of situation's could be dealt with more privately.

The subject was pointing a gun at a young red-head, yelling and spitting out hateful things. His face was red with anger, and his knuckle's were white from clutching the hand gun so hard.

_"Okay team," _Greg said over the ear wig, "_Let's keep the peace." _

The hostage looked scared, and very rattled. She held both hands up in the air, and cringed with every movement the subject made.

"This bitch killed him! She's a liar, a skank, a murderer!" The subject yelled at the top of his lungs. "She deserve's to die!" He said as he put the gun against the women's head.

"Okay Eddy," Greg said as everyone gathered around quickly to make up a tactic plan. "Find a sniper position. Spike, once we get a name, dig up all the info we can get on this guy, if we don't get a name, find a picture off of one of the News channels here and run it through facial recognition. Sam, talk to the witness's, see if there's something we don't already know. Jules, go with Sam, and once we get people here that might know the hostage or the subject, interview them. Wordy, you're my cover."

Everybody nodded in agreement and made their ways to where they had to be.

Wordy and Greg positioned themselves behind the SUV that they drove to the scene. As Wordy finished setting up his sniper post, Greg began to speak.

"Hello. My name is Sergeant Gregory Parker with the Strategic Response Unit. Could you tell us what's going on here?" Greg asked in a tone that would remind a person of an adult talking to a distraught child.

"That bitch killed him! She killed him!" The man with the gun yelled, jabbing it into the hostage's head harder. "She deserves to die!" The man screamed.

"No body deserves to die." Greg said in a gentle tone, almost with a playful undertone to it.

"Go away! Your services aren't needed here officer!" The man yelled, with a smirk on his face and with a dangerous edge to his words.

"Then all you have to do is come with me, and this will all be over." Greg promised.

The man deliberated for a moment, then spoke again. "This is over when I say its over!" The man screamed with his gun pointing at the crowd, then back to the girl.

"Spike," Greg said into his headset as he ducked for cover offered by the SRU vehicle. "This might take awhile. Run a photo of the hostage from the news through a recognition software, and while you're at it, doing the same for the hostage."

_"Already on it boss. This guy looks familar so I ran him through facial recogniton. His name is Timothy Holden." _Spike told his boss through the headset. From Spike's tone, Wordy recognized that there was something that Spike was holding back.

"Spike, what are you not telling us?" Wordy asked, still keeping his concentration on his sniper and the subject.

_"I went to community college with him. He graduated top of the class_." Spike said, faint sounds of typing in the background.

"Is this going to be a problem for you, Spike?" Greg asked.

_"Not at all boss_." Spike's voice was distant, and almost-but not quite- fell short of confident.

"Imagine going to school one day with someone you know, and the next watching them as they threaten to kill somebody." Wordy commented to his team. He really couldn't imagine it. He really wasn't in touch with anyone from the academy, or high school, only a few, but he could hardly imagine any of them turning up in one of these situations.

This got Wordy thinking (something he does alot on the job, even while focusing), what would his daughters do if they found out an old classmate got into some sort of trouble when they're older. What a very odd way to connect his family to a case, but that always happens. He usually catches himself doing that- connecting his family and his work in very odd ways. He's been doing it for quiet sometime, but he figures that's his sub conscience reminding him of why he is doing this job day in and day out, working awful hours and seeing the worse of the worse; to protect those who cannot protect themselves. After all, is it not the responsibility of the strong to protect the week?

Wordy refocused himself on what was going on infront of him just in time to see the subject raising his gun at Greg. Wordy positioned himself to take the shot.

"_Do not shoot, I repeat, DO NOT shoot!"_ Greg said in his earpeice, giving the order to Ed as well as Wordy.

"_Copy." _Ed responded through his earpiece.

"_Copy." _Wordy said right after that.

"Timothy, if you raise your gun at us, we would have to shoot you." Greg said to the subject, aka Timothy.

"How do you know my name?" The subject screamed with rage, maddened that they knew his name.

"We ran your picture through a recognition system." Greg answered calmly. "Now, what does this young lady have to do with this?"

"She killed him! That bitch killed him!" The subject yelled.

"_Guys, I think I figured out what's the cause of all of this." _Spike began.

"_Let us hear it, Spike._" Sam said on his end.

"_Well,_" Spike began. "_About a year ago, Timothy's brother, Jerrad, died of a drug over dose. Jerrad had no history with drugs, and as far as anyone else knew, he wasn't involved with drugs. The police suspect fowl play. They have had a few suspects, but the case is still wide open."_

"_How does the hostage play into all of this?_" Jules asked from her end.

_"It says here she was found with Jerrad's body when the police found them. An anonymous call was placed to the police, saying there was people doing drugs in the apartment. When the police had arrived, they only found Jerrad, who was long dead, and one seventeen year old Karen Ashford. They never found any evidence on her, and no one ever came forward as a witness._" Spike said, filling in enough blanks for the team to begin to do put the puzzle together.

"Listen," Greg began speaking to the subject in a calm, sympathetic voice. "I know what happened to you was rough"-

The subject cut him off. -"No you don't! No one ever does! They all say that but they never mean it!" The subject paused for a brief moment, taking a breath, almost to as if to calm himself down. "Now you listen to me," He said with a dangerously low, evil voice. "If you don't find who placed the anonymous call to the police about my brother, I will kill this slut and I will have no regrets."

"But we don't even know if the caller knows anything significant!" Greg attempted to reason.

"Then how would they know if a group of people were doing drugs in a house? How would they know unless they were there?" The subject asked. "Now do as I say, or dishrag here dies." He said as he jammed the gun into her temple, making her wimper at the cold feeling."

**A/N: I'm so sorry for the long wait!  
I'm not too sure how fond of this chapter I am. I couldn't think of too much for Wordy, but I did think I should make him sensitive towards his family, and them being his inspiration. I know it was a funny jump in the middle, when Wordy connected the case to his family. But, sometime's the weirdest of things do help us connect one thing to another. **

**Since I kept you guys waiting for a long time, I'm not gunna ask for a certain number of reviews, as that would be unfair. But, I am going to ask that you do please review, as the DO keep me going, even if I don't update fast enough. They inspire me, and I just love knowing what you guys think. :)**

**Peace out!**


	4. Notes

**Hey guys!**  
**Sorry about posting an Authors Note in the middle of my story. I was just feeling bad about not having updated with no word in a little bit. Things have been kind of busy between school and such. But, at last, its summer!**  
**Also, I have been lacking inspiration.**

**And...Im going to tease the next chapter. POV: Sam's. Will there be Sam and Jules moments or Sam and Jules implied?: Maybeeee. *cough* yes *cough***  
**Something will happen in this chapter, not Sam and Jules related but something to further along the story line. And I'm going to try to make this chapter longer than usual.**

**I'm hoping to have the new chapter up within the next week.**

**Now that that is all said and done...any ideas on what should happen in this chapter? They may not get used but they will give me inspiration. Credit will go to where it is deserved. No worries. :P**

**Anyways...|ttyl! ttuvs! ttfn!| **

**Lol, bye!**


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